The Queen has carried out her first official public engagements since the Duke of Edinburgh‘s funeral, with two virtual audiences from inside Windsor Castle. Her Majesty, who turned 95 last week, held two audiences with the ambassadors of Latvia and Ivory Coast, who were at Buckingham Palace, while she was at Windsor. Photographs showed the Queen no longer wearing black after two weeks of royal mourning ended on Friday.
Via video Ivita Burmistre, the ambassador from Latvia, presented the Letters of Recall of her predecessor and her own Letters of Credence to the Queen, as did Sara Affoue Amani, the Ivory Coast ambassador.
It is the first time pictures have been released of the monarch carrying out her royal duties since Prince Philip died peacefully at Windsor Castle.
She was back at work just four days after his death with an audience and investiture with Earl Peel, who was relinquishing his role as Lord Chamberlain, and a day later she welcomed her new Lord Chamberlain, Baron Parker.
It is no surprise the Queen went back to her job so soon after the Duke of Edinburgh’s death.
After all, the monarch has always shown a deep sense of duty and service.
In 1992 BBC documentary Elizabeth R, the Queen actually talked candidly about her responsibilities, saying “continuity is very important”.
Talking about how she became Queen, Her Majesty said: “In a way I didn’t have an apprenticeship.
“May father died much too young.
“So it was all very sudden. The kind of thing to take on and make…
